Dog gives birth to record 17 puppies
FAIRFIELD, Calif. (FOX) - They're not 101 Dalmatians, but how about 17 sheepdog pups?
A Maremma sheepdog has broken the record for having the largest litter of puppies in California.
Six to eight puppies is normal for the breed. But a 3-year-old pooch named Stella gave birth to 17.
"We really were just expecting maybe 10 at the most," Napa grass farmer John Costanzo explained. "But once the 17th was finally coming out we realized that this was going to be a lot of work. We were going to be feeding morning noon and night."
All of the pups have been spoken for. Each will end up doing some very specific work on a farm of their own.
"Some of these guys are already going to farms around California, and we're just waiting to go through the rest of the interview process to put all 17 of them in different farms," Costanzo continued.
The Guinness world record for the largest litter of puppies -- ever -- is 24.